PTI reported that state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp may sell stake in its mega petrochemical project in Gujarat to fund acquisition of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, a senior official said. ONGC had borrowed money from banks to buy government's 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL for INR 36,915 crore.

Official said that "We traditionally have been a debt-free company and would like to return to that status as soon as possible. We have assets which can be monetised to payoff the debt."

ONGC holds 13.77 per cent stake in nation's biggest refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC), which at today's trading price is worth close to INR 26,000 crore. It also holds 4.86 per cent stake in gas utility GAIL India Ltd, which is worth over INR 3,600 crore.

He said that "We will sell sales in IOC and GAIL only when the price is right. And it is not possible to sell all the shares in one go," adding that an alternative to it is selling stake in ONGC-Petro Additions Ltd (OPaL).

OPaL's 1.1 million tonnes capacity petrochem plant at Dahej in Gujarat was commissioned last year and has reached 100 per cent capacity in February.

The official said that "We have invested Rs 30,000 crore in the project and always had plans to sell a minimum of 26 per cent stake in the project to a strategic investor. Now that the plant has come up well and stabilised, this is the time to monetise it."

Official said that several companies including some global giants have evinced interest in taking equity in the project. He however refused to name the firms due to commercial reasons.